Public Charity: Wise or Waste?

REVIEW SUMMARY
What. Proposed amendment to Sarasota County's Charter.
Issue. Amendment restricts spending tax dollars on nonprofit services.
Impact. $8.9 million in the 2011 budget leverages other public and private dollars.

Venice retiree Kathy Bolam doesn't think it's appropriate for government officials to spend taxpayers' money on nonprofit organizations, even if it's spent on audited contractual services. The former Sarasota County Charter Review Board candidate's nearly two-year battle with the board may come to a conclusion this month, or it could get new life.

Bolam and a couple key allies are taking on a big challenge fighting spending for a spectrum of powerful nonprofit groups, the county bureaucracy, the convention and visitors' bureau, Charter Review Board Chairwoman Cathy Layton, and Nora Patterson, chairwoman of the Sarasota County Commission.